1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a door handle system that employs a plurality of levers for simultaneously latching and unlatching a plurality of associated latch mechanisms provided on a door. This door handle system employs varying numbers and placement of levers and associated latch mechanisms, can be installed on doors that open to the inside or on doors that open to the outside, can be used on either left or right hand opening doors, can be operated from either side of the door, and can be locked by employing a single padlock in association with only one of the levers of the system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Most of the door handle systems that are currently employed utilize only one latch mechanism to hold the door shut. One latch mechanism holds the door to the door frame in only one location. For use with doors that are flexible and can be easily warped, such as metal doors, it is desirable to employ door handle systems with more than one latch mechanism so that various points on the door can be held to the door frame.
Various multiple latch door handle systems have been proposed. However, each of these multiple latch door handle systems has one or more problems associated with its installation or use.
Some of the multiple latch door handle systems have a number of latch mechanisms that work independently. These systems are time consuming to open and close because each latch mechanism must be operated individually in order to open or close the door.
Other multiple latch door handle systems employ latch mechanisms that work in conjunction with each other, but are designed so that the latch mechanisms must be located at a certain point and distance from the other latch mechanisms in the system. Installation of these systems can be time consuming, and often the locations of the latch mechanisms are not convenient for the door onto which they are to be installed.
Still other multiple latch door handle systems are complicated in operation and may employ latch mechanisms that are directed in opposite directions from each other. Again, installation for these types of systems is complicated and time consuming. The systems are not flexible enough for installation on different types or sizes of doors, on both left and right hand opening doors, or for inside and outside opening doors without making major modifications to the hardware. These systems often employ complicated linking mechanisms with numerous parts that can break. Once a part is broken on one of these systems, they are often hard to repair.
Some multiple latch door handle systems are designed for installation on only one side of a door, i.e. either a right handed opening door or a left handed opening door. And most of these multiple latch door handle systems can not be opened from both sides of the door, i.e. opened from both the front side and back side of the door and can not be used on both inside opening doors and on outside opening doors.
Also, many of these multiple latch door handle systems are difficult or impossible to lock so that all of the latch mechanisms of the system remain locked in a latched position.
The present invention addresses all of these problems by providing a simple, multiple latch door handle system for simultaneously latching and unlatching a plurality of associated latch mechanisms provided on a door. The present door handle system is easy to install, allows flexibility in the number of levers and latch mechanisms employed, and allows flexibility in the distance that the levers and latch mechanisms are spaced apart from each other. This system can be installed either an inside opening door or on an outside opening door, can be used on either a left hand opening door or a right hand opening door, and can be operated from either side of the door. Also, all of the latch mechanisms of this door handle system can be locked in a latched position by employing a single padlock in association with the distal end on just one of the levers of the system.
The present invention is a door handle system that employs a plurality of levers for simultaneously latching and unlatching a plurality of associated latch mechanisms provided on a door. This system is mounted externally on the door to the surface of the door and to the surface of the door frame so that the entire system is readily visible and accessible for operation and repair.
Each lever is paired with and attached to an associated latch mechanism so that the latch mechanism rotates in conjunction with its associated lever. Each lever is provided with a shaft that is provided on a proximal end of the lever. The shaft extends outward from the lever so that a longitudinal axis of the shaft is approximately perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the lever. Two opposite sides of the shaft are flattened along the length of the shaft so that items that are fitted to the shaft, i.e. are provided with openings therein having two flattened sides to the opening, and are slipped over a distal end of the shaft will not be able to rotate relative to the shaft, but those items will rotate in conjunction with rotation of the shaft and its associated lever.
A groove is provided in the proximal end of the lever so that the groove surrounds the shaft. A compressible washer slips over the distal end of the shaft and is received in the groove to seal the lever to the door in order to prevent air leakage between the door and the lever.
Next, a hollow snap bushing is placed over the distal end of the shaft so that a cylindrical end of the snap bushing faces away from the lever. The opposite end of the snap bushing is provided with a shoulder which has a larger diameter than the diameter of the cylindrical end. Then the shaft is inserted through an opening provided in a door for this purpose, and the cylindrical end of the snap bushing enters the opening and is secured therein by wings that are provided on the cylindrical end, with the shoulder resting against the front surface of the door.
After the shaft has been inserted through the opening in the door, a hollow second bushing inserts over the distal end of the shaft so that a cylindrical portion of the second bushing extends through the opening in the door. The second bushing is provided with a shoulder that is larger in diameter than its cylindrical portion, and this shoulder engages the back surface of the door. The shoulder of the second bushing rests against the back surface of the door.
Next a collar with a shaft opening therein is slipped, via its shaft opening, over the distal end of the shaft and is secured to the shaft by a screw that inserts into a screw opening that is provided in the collar approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shaft. A shaft opening in the collar is fitted to the shaft, i.e. it is provided with two flattened sides to the shaft opening. The collar is provided with a second groove similar to the groove provided in the proximal end of the lever. The second groove receives the shoulder of the second bushing. The screw is threaded into the screw opening until a tip of the screw engages the shaft, thereby securing the collar to the shaft and capturing the second bushing, door, snap bushing, and washer between the collar and the lever.
A latch mechanism with a shaft opening therein is next slipped onto the shaft, via its shaft opening, and is secured to the shaft by a second screw that inserts into a second screw opening provided in the latch mechanism approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shaft. A shaft opening in the latch mechanism is also fitted to the shaft, i.e. it is provided with two flattened sides to the latch mechanism opening. The second screw is threaded into the second screw opening until a tip of the second screw engages the shaft, thereby securing the latch mechanism to the shaft.
The latch mechanism has a circular protrusion on a back or rear side of the latch mechanism by which the latch mechanism attaches to a bus bar. The circular protrusion is provided with a third screw opening that is provided approximately parallel with the longitudinal axis of the shaft but is offset therefrom because the circular protrusion is provided on a distal end of an arm that extends outward approximately perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the shaft. The circular protrusion is first inserted through a protrusion opening provided in the bus bar for this purpose, and then a third screw is first inserted through a large diameter second washer and bar bushing and then threaded into the third screw opening to secure the latch mechanism to the bus bar. The bar bushing is provided with a cylindrical end that enters the protrusion opening and with a shoulder that abuts the bar.
When inserting the latch mechanism onto the shaft and before the latch mechanism is attached to the bus bar, either a front side of the latch mechanism can face the shaft when the latch mechanism is inserted onto the shaft, as illustrated in FIGS. 2, 3 and 3A, or alternately, a rear side of the latch mechanism can face the shaft, as illustrated in FIG. 2A, when the latch mechanism is inserted onto the shaft. The circular protrusion is provided on the rear side of the latch mechanism and it attaches to the bus bar to operationally link this latch mechanism with other identical latch mechanisms to form the door handle system.
The shaft opening in the latch mechanism is provided with two flattened sides that can align with the two flattened sides of the shaft in two different ways simply by rotating the latch mechanism while keeping the front side of the latch mechanism facing the door. Therefore, when the latch mechanism is facing the door, it can be inserted on the shaft in one of two ways so that the latch mechanism can be employed to fit either right or left hand doors, i.e. it can be inserted directly so that the flattened sides of the latch mechanism coincide with the flattened sides of the shaft or it can be rotated 180 degrees before inserting it on the shaft. In addition, the latch mechanism can be flipped over 180 degrees so that the rear side of the latch mechanism faces the door, as previously described. In this orientation, i.e. with the rear side of the latch mechanism facing the door, the latch mechanism can also be inserted on the shaft in one of two ways, similar to the two different ways the latch mechanism could be inserted on the shaft when the front side of the latch mechanism faced the door.
The latch mechanism is provided with a wedge shaped tongue that extends outward perpendicular from the longitudinal axis of the shaft and is located in a plane that is parallel to a plane in which the arm is located. A longitudinal axis of the tongue forms an obtuse angle of approximately 140 degrees with a longitudinal axis of the arm, with a pointed edge of the wedge facing away from the arm.
A plurality of door handles comprised of lever, and associated latch mechanism pairs along with associated washers bushings and collar, that are all identical to those previously described are secured to the door so that all the door handles are aligned with each other and are attached to the same bus bar which is provided with a protrusion openings therethrough for this purpose. Protrusion openings can easily be made in the bus bar so that the door handles can be spaced apart as desired.
When the door handle system is thus installed in the door, for outward opening doors, the tongue will engage the door frame, as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. However, a tongue receiving bracket is needed for inwardly opening doors, as illustrated in FIGS. 2A and 3A. The tongue receiving bracket is attached to the door frame in association with and for the purpose of being removably engaged by its associated tongue. The tongue receiving bracket is secured to the door frame on the side of the door frame where the latch mechanism is positioned when the door is closed. If the receiving bracket is made of sheet metal for mounting on the back side of the door facing, a reinforcing flange is provided on the receiving bracket to give it extra strength. Because the tongue and receiving bracket are both surface mounted to the inside of the door and door frame, respectively, the latch mechanism can be operated from either side of the door unless the door handle system has been locked in a closed position.
An L-shaped lock bracket with a lock opening provided extending through one leg of the bracket is secured to the front side of the door via a screw in association with one or more of the levers. The lock bracket is preferably provided with a counter-bored hole in its second leg into which a screw inserts to secure the lock bracket to the door facing. The hole is preferably counter-bored so that the head of the screw does not interfere with movement of the lever. Each lock bracket is secured to the door on the same side as the levers and is positioned so that the lock opening provided in the lock bracket is aligned with an associated lock opening provided in a distal end of the lever. When the two lock openings are aligned with each other, i.e. the two lock openings are aligned with each other only when the tongue is in its latched position, a link of a padlock can be insert through the two aligned lock openings, thereby locking the door handle system in its closed or latched position. In order to unlock the door handle system, the padlock is removed and then the levers are free to rotate to unlatch the tongues from their associated receiving brackets or door frames, thereby unlatching the door from its door frame. It should be obvious that because all of the levers and latch mechanisms of a given door handle system operated in conjunction with each other, all levers and latch mechanisms are rendered inoperative when any one of the levers is locked.
The arm of each latch mechanism is provided with an ear to prevent the latch mechanism from overextending when it is opened. The ear has an ear surface that positioned approximately perpendicular to a vertical lip provided on the bus bar whenever the latch mechanism is in its latched position. The ear surface engages the vertical lip when the latch is in its fully opened position, thereby preventing the latch mechanism from accidentally being rotated further than its fully opened position.